


Everyone's Family is Different

by teamhortense



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-01
Updated: 2014-10-01
Packaged: 2018-02-19 13:21:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2389748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamhortense/pseuds/teamhortense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>100% AU - I hate that I did this but all the parents are horrible for the sake of drama which is obviously not the case IRL.  Had a super great beta for the first half and then he disappeared, so sorry if the second half is incoherent.  Old people jokes you may not get will be explained in the notes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everyone's Family is Different

Zayn slumps into his desk with an audible grunt. One more class and the worst first day of school ever would be over, the perfect end to the worst summer ever. As if it wasn’t enough to be uprooted to a new town where he didn’t know anyone, over the last few months he'd fallen out of the puberty tree and hit every branch on the way down. He shaved as closely as possible this morning but he already has a 5 o’clock shadow and it was just past 2 in the afternoon. He’s nervous and quiet and he wonders if they think he's a moron who's been left back a couple of years. He looks down at the cover of his textbook and groans: Geography. Wonderful. His worst subject and boring as hell to boot. He’s snapped out of his pity party by a commotion from the hallway; laughter that sounds like puppies tumbling down a musical rainbow staircase. Curious, he eyes the doorway, breath hitching when a sunny, smiling blonde ambles in. The boy is greeting his friends good-naturedly when his eyes land on Zayn, who jerks away and blushes slightly; this is obviously someone popular and he doesn't want to piss off the "cool guy". 

"Oh hey! Hi, I’m Niall. Are you new?" 

Zayn nods and nervously replies, "I-I’m Zayn?" 

Niall smiles brightly and extends his hand. “Are you sure?” 

Zayn blushes and shakes the proffered hand. "Yeah. Yeah sorry, just nervous is all.” 

Niall: “Well I’m here now, nothing to be nervous about.” Zayn grins sheepishly and Niall gives him a wink as he takes the neighboring seat and turns to the front of the class as the teacher walks in.

Barely twenty minutes later, Zayn is completely lost. He’s clutching his hair in his hands and panicking, his eye darting between the text and the whiteboard. Moments later, when the teacher turns his back, a folded note lands on Zayn’s textbook in front of him. He looks around and carefully unfolds it under his desk: “Luckily this subject comes fairly easy to me. Maybe I can help you?” Zayn exhales out a breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. He turns to find Niall looking at him expectantly and he nods enthusiastically. Niall grins and gives him a thumbs-up before turning back to the lecture, seemingly fascinated by the “isthmus v. peninsula” discussion.

Everyone visibly relaxes when the final bell rings. As they gather their books, Niall asks Zayn if he wants to come over and study. Zayn replies, “I guess so - homework on the first day?! We’re not in primary school anymore, that’s for sure.” 

Niall chuckles. “Not by a long shot, I’m afraid.” 

As Zayn follows Niall to his locker, he thinks to call his mum so she won’t worry. He rolls his eyes as her phone goes straight to voicemail, meaning she’s either not bothered to turn it on or the battery’s gone dead. “Mum, it’s Zayn. I made a friend today and I’m going over to his for help with Geo. Call if you need me, see you by dinner.” He grimaced as he hit “disconnect”, suspecting that, not only would she not listen to the message, but she also wouldn’t notice he was gone in the first place. After stopping at Zayn’s locker, they head out to the tube station. “Is it far?” asks Zayn. 

“A few stops, then a dozen blocks or so…hey, nice satchel!” replies Niall. 

Zayn glances down then responds, “Thanks, it was my dad’s,” and glances away. Niall senses a sore subject and decides not to pursue it this soon. They’re quiet for a bit, then Zayn asks, “You’re not from here either, I take it?” 

“Ireland, obviously,” chuckles Niall. “I was the ‘new guy’ a couple years ago; I sympathize.”

They share a smile and Niall turns to check their progress against the route map. Zayn continues to stare at him, as if transfixed, then quickly looks away as Niall turns back to him. He cocks his head with a smirk and asks “Alright?” 

Zayn looks at his foot, toeing the floor and says, “Well, this is sort of lame, but I’m just so relieved someone finally spoke to me, and kind of chuffed it’s someone smart and fun.” 

Niall: “You forgot sexy -- this is our stop!” He laughs that cascade of a laugh as he bounds up the steps to the street. 

\----------

Later that night, after he tosses a blanket over his mother who was passed out on the couch, and scrapes together something vaguely resembling a meal from the ketchup and shriveled carrots left in the fridge and pantry, and helps his sisters with their maths homework, and chucks yet another empty whisky bottle in the bin, THEN Zayn thinks about every minute he spent with Niall that afternoon. He thinks about the way it only took about ten minutes with him to feel completely at ease, like they’d known each other for years. He thinks about how much he smiled today and wonders how long it's been since he really, truly, smiled so hard his face hurt after the fact -- it has to have been actual years, he’s stunned to realize, well before Sixth form and everything started to go to hell between his parents.

He studies his reflection in the mirror as he’s brushing his teeth. He’s thinking how he felt when Niall made the “sexy” remark, and how blue his eyes are, and how his voice reminds him of slowly melting butter, Irish accent dancing in his ears. His brushing slows as he squints at himself, remembering how Niall smelled when he leaned over to point out something in the textbook: coconut hair product, Old Spice deodorant, vague undercurrent of sweaty teenage boy: somehow both rank and sweet at the same time. His brushing stops entirely as he closes his eyes and thinks, trying hard to remember if he's ever noticed another guy's scent before. He opens his eyes, spits, rinses and climbs into bed. 

Lying in the dark, he wonders if he’s ever noticed anything about a GIRL and...comes up blank. Has it been because he’s too wrapped up in his problems to focus on someone else? He decides he’s too tired for thinking anymore and drifts off, smiling slightly; Niall’s laugh echoing lightly in the back of his mind.

\---------

Much to Zayn's delight, they become fast friends. A few days later during lunch, Zayn is startled when Niall clasps him on the shoulder and drops ungracefully into the chair next to him, the friendly squeeze lasting perhaps a bit longer than might be considered merely friendly. Or is he imagining it? Niall glances briefly down at Zayn’s lunch, which appears to be a butter sandwich and a rapidly rotting apple. He looks guiltily at his own cafeteria tray. He couldn’t decide between the two choices, buying one of each, intending to eat as much of both as he could and throw the rest away. He picks up the shepherd’s pie and nonchalantly sets it in front of Zayn. Zayn’s chest tightens both because it’s been so long since he’s been on the receiving end of a sacrifice, and because he’s embarrassed his situation is that obvious. How could it not be, he thinks. Just as Zayn can see from Niall’s clothes - the crisp collars and the quality fabrics - that his family is well off, Niall can surely see by Zayn’s too-short trousers and frayed sleeve cuffs, that his isn’t. 

“Not sure what I was thinking,” mutters Niall around a bite of pork chop. “Guess my eyes are bigger than my stomach.” 

Hunger wins out over Zayn’s wounded pride and he nods, voice cracking around the lump in his throat as he murmurs, “Thanks.”

\----------

He spends the next two class periods obsessing, and by Geography, he's a bundle of jangling nerves. What does he tell Niall to keep the scene in the cafeteria from happening again? (Why don’t you want it to happen again?) Well, it’s embarrassing; I’m not a charity case. (Aren’t you?) I don’t need his help. (If not his, whose? You can’t do this much longer.) I’ll think of something. (You need to be thinking of your sisters.) He wants so much to not mess this up. He craves Niall’s friendship more than anything, but is wary of letting him get too close. He doesn’t want him to find out how dire things are and turn away in shock. Is it possible to develop a close relationship with someone while keeping them at arm’s length? Highly unlikely. (HE WANTS TO HELP YOU! LET HIM HELP YOU!) When does it stop being just accepting help and become taking advantage of? When does helpfulness turn to resentfulness?

He hides in the bathroom before class, head pressed against the cool stall door, checking his watch every few seconds. He manages to slip into the classroom a moment before the bell rings, glancing over to Niall’s desk just in time to see his worried expression relax into a broad grin. He can’t help but smile sheepishly in return. 

“Alright?” asks Niall. 

Zayn shrugs. “Actually I think I’m coming down with something…feel kinda warm.” 

Before he can register what’s happening, Niall is reaching across the aisle and laying the back of his hand on his forehead, then his cheek. Now he KNOWS he’s warm. “You are a bit, actually. A little flushed as well. You’re still welcome to come over if you want. I could fix you some soup?” 

Zayn smiles and silently wishes that the teacher would hurry. “Thanks, really, but I think I need to go home and crawl into bed and try to sleep it off.” 

“If you say so…I wish I’d driven today, I’d have given you a ride.” 

Zayn sighs, “I’m FINE, really!” taking out his notes as the teacher comes scrambling in.

He manages to escape after class with the barest amount of chit chat and relinquishing his phone number so Niall could check up on him later. He tries to remember the last time he paid the bill and how many minutes he has left. Maybe he’ll get lucky and it’ll be shut off before Niall can call. Or would that be worse? It’d either be a giveaway or Niall would think he gave the wrong number on purpose. Ugh. Can’t win for losing. 

He decides to go for a walk to clear his head and ends up in a nearby park. He takes a seat where he can watch kids fall off the seesaws and reaches for his cigarettes. SHIT! Only one left. He sighs and reaches for his matches: only one of those left, too. His blood runs cold, suddenly highly attuned to the breeze picking up and dying away in waves. If the match blows out, he will not get to smoke even this one last cigarette which has suddenly become the most important thing in his life. He determines which direction the wind is coming from and turns his back, hunches over, and waits. NOW! He thinks: slow exhale...strike match...inhale sharply as if it’s his last dying breath. He lets out a long, theatrical moan and leans back, exhaling the rush-giving plume of smoke.

As he nurses what’s left in tiny, pitiful puffs, hand cupped protectively around the cherry, he notices a well-dressed couple chatting animatedly while stealing glances at him. Zayn looks around, confused. Sure enough, it’s him. He’s even more confused when they approach him, huge grins on their faces. They introduce themselves but Zayn pays little attention since they’re handing him a business card anyway.

“Have you ever done any modeling?” asks the woman. 

“No!” blurts Zayn, incredulously. 

“Would you LIKE to?” follows up the man. Zayn’s not naïve; he’s pretty positive they aren’t talking about legitimate modeling. 

He’s about to hand the card back with a “thanks, but no thanks” when the woman pipes up: “If the pictures get a good response, it could lead to film work, which is where the big money is.” 

Just then, the cigarette burns its last, right up to his fingertips. “FUCK!” he shouts, whipping his hand up and down to cool the sting, finally sticking his fingers in his mouth. 

“Sleep on it a couple nights,” the man purrs as he turns to leave. “Give us a call if you’re interested.”

\-----------

Zayn is still smirking over the strange encounter a half hour later as he’s rounding the corner of the Council flats. Suddenly, he drops to the ground behind the hedgerow, heart pounding, praying he didn’t see what he thought he just saw. He shuffles on his knees to peek between the branches and sure enough, it’s Niall, at his front door, with a pot of soup. Not a takeout container, or a plastic container, but an entire fucking pot of soup. Just when he thinks he can’t be more horrified, his mother actually answers the door, wearing cutoff sweatpants and a filthy t-shirt, clearly revealing she’s braless. Niall’s brave smile never falters as he asks for Zayn, then it does when she responds he isn’t there. He composes himself to ask another question then looks startled as Zayn’s mother reels, weaves, grabs the doorframe, and lurches forward. Zayn can’t watch and sprints away as fast as he can, but not fast enough to escape the sound of the pot hitting the ground amid the projectile vomiting. Keep running! Keep running! Oh God keep running! He runs until he’s out of breath and then keeps running until he’s in actual physical pain and then keeps running until he collapses onto all fours, gasping for air and dry heaving with exhaustion. Months and months of stoically restrained tears suddenly breach his façade. Tears of confusion, of guilt, and frustration; of betrayal and exhaustion and loneliness. Tears of humiliation. Tears of shame. Any one of those could break a healthy adult. Zayn is just a sixteen year old boy who doesn't know where his next meal is coming from.

\-----------

The last thing he remembers is the cold, hard ground so he's momentarily confused as his eyes flutter open and he feels himself propped against something warm and yielding. He shifts a bit and nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels the light embrace around his waist tighten slightly. 

Zayn bolts up in a panic and the embrace becomes a clutch as Niall says, “Shh! Shh! It’s me, Niall! C’mere.” 

Zayn struggles, muttering, "No no no oh no oh no..."

Niall: "It's ok, Zayn. You're ok. We're ok."

Zayn: "Oh god. I can't -"

Niall: "No, don't worry about it, really."

Zayn: (Slumping back against Niall) "Please don't tell anyone."

Niall: "Of course I won't. Not if you don't want me to." (pause) "I could help you get some assistance or something, if you want? I think maybe this is too much for you to take on yourself?"

Zayn: "Don't, ok? Um, I think there's something I'm going to look into."

Niall looks skeptical: "You're sure?"

Zayn: "Oh shit! What time is it?!"

Niall checks his phone: "Almost seven. You were out a while."

Zayn: "Oh no, my sisters!" he sobs.

Niall: "Get in."

Zayn stands up shakily and looks around. He has no idea where they are, but apparently they've been leaning against the tyre of Niall's car since before sunset. He gets in and dials the flat, hoping they're not terrified. There's no answer and he tries to tell himself not to panic. They can't be that far, he's not THAT good a runner. "How did you find me?"

Niall looks over, then back to the road. "I don't know if you realize it, but you let out quite a wail when you took off and I was able to get my car started quick enough to catch up with you. I knew it would be futile to try and stop you so I just followed about a block behind."

It dawns on Zayn that Niall must've sat there watching him sob for what seemed like an eternity before he was completely spent and collapsed. He turns his head away towards the window and covers his eyes. Seconds later, he feels Niall take his hand and a wave of relief washes over him. 

A few minutes later, they pull up in front of Zayn's building. Niall asks if he should come in and Zayn shakes his head forcefully. He's about to shut the car door when he leans in and says: "You know, when I asked how you found me, I meant where I lived." 

Niall blushes, licks his lips, and pauses. "I...went to the office and told them you gave me your number and pretended I couldn't tell if the last number was a six or eight and asked if they could double check it for me. When your info came up on the screen, I looked over the secretary's shoulder and memorized your address." He looks down at his lap realizing how creepy it sounds. "I'm sorry. Are you mad?" 

Zayn just stares at him until Niall looks up at him with moist blue eyes. "No. No, not anymore. I'm sorry about the soup. And my mum. Maybe we can try again sometime?" 

Niall breaks into a warm smile. "Yeah. I'd like that. See you tomorrow in school, eh?" 

Zayn nods while returning the soft smile. "Tomorrow. Looking forward to it," and clicks the door shut behind him, heading up the walk where he picks up the pot and lid from the ground to bring them into the house.

Niall watches the door close behind him and sits with his hands on the wheel, staring ahead. He takes in the battered couch by the kerb and the trainers over the phone lines, thinks back to lunch which feels like years ago, and wonders if HE is taking on too much. He looks once more at Zayn's door, makes a call, puts his car in gear, and heads home: home with the multiple cars in the driveway leading to garages and a detached house with rooms they don't even use, just like all the others surrounding it.   
"How did it go?" asks his mum as he walks in, heavily.   
"He needs more than soup, and I don't know how to give it to him." Niall says, sadly.  
\-----------

Zayn brings the soup pot to the kitchen and warily sets out to search the small flat. He's relieved to find the girls in the bathroom, Waliyha giving Safaa her bath. They hadn't heard the phone over the water running is all. He feels a tightness in his throat, realizing that Waliyha has apparently relinquished her teen years to accept the maternal role in the family. It should have been Doniya, but Zayn can't fault her for getting out as soon as she could. His stomach growls and he sighs and heads towards the kitchen, though he knows exactly what he's going to find. After rooting around for about 15 minutes and scratching his head at what he's managed to accumulate he's interrupted by the doorbell and he puts the chain on and opens the door a crack to see a pizza delivery man. 

“I think you’ve been Punk’d man. Pretty sure no one in this neighborhood can afford pizza, unless they hit their parlay.”

(Checks receipt) “Zayn Malik?”

“Yes?!”

“Already taken care of; tip as well.”

Zayn knits his eyebrows, removes the chain, opens the door and accepts the pizzas from the insulated bag.

“Enjoy!”

“Uh...thanks.”

He sets the boxes down on the kitchen table and stares at them. Obviously, this is Niall’s doing, but he’s not sure how he feels about it. He’s still unclear as to what his motive is. He thinks (hopes) he has a crush and is doing this to be sweet, but what if he just feels sorry for him? What if he’s just doing it to feel like a big shot hero? Zayn arbitrarily decides the pizza itself is going to be the deciding factor and prepares to over-analyze every topping.

He somberly places his thumb on the tab of the top box, takes a deep breath and flips the lid open...cheese. He exhales. Ok, safe choice. Niall knows his sisters are younger and kids usually like things simple. He sets the box aside and prepares to open the second one. Inhale...veggie. Exhale. This is the nurturing pizza, he thinks. Niall has somehow intuited they’ve been living on mac & cheese and Corn Flakes. Zayn can’t remember the last time they saw a vegetable, much less a fresh one. He sets that box aside and considers the last one. This will go one of two ways: either it will be the show-off meat-lovers pizza that he’ll spend the next twenty minutes picking ham, bacon and pepperoni from, or...

“DO I SMELL PIZZA?!” shrieks Safaa, wet feet slapping on the lino.

“NO WAY!” blurts Waliyha, close behind. “Wait – are you crying? I thought you loved BBQ chicken?”

Zayn blinks repeatedly, shakily closes the box, removes the receipt taped face down on the cheese box and turns it over:

“1) LG CH 9.99  
2) LG VEG 9.99  
3) LG BBQ CHI 9.99  
GRATUITY: 5.00  
BAL DUE: 0.00 xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-5692 EX 5/2015  
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: NO PORK”

\---------

Dinner at the Horan household is heavy with silence, as usual. Niall distractedly pushes a Brussels’ sprout around his mashed potatoes while glancing at his phone next to his glass every few seconds.

Without even looking up, Bobby says, “No phones during dinner, Niall.” Niall sighs, drags some potatoes through his gravy and glances at his phone again. He very deliberately sets his fork down, takes a slow drink of milk, wipes his mouth with his napkin, and glances at his phone.

“Niall!”

Niall huffs and looks down at his hands and absentmindedly picks at his cuticle. He gives his mother a beseeching look and says, “I’m not feeling well, may I be excused?” Bobby glares.

“’CAUSE THIS IS THRILLERRRR! THRILLER NIGHT! AND NO ONE’S GONNA –“

Niall and his dad lunge for the phone at the same time, Niall narrowly beating him to it.

“NIALL!”

“MA!”

“BOBBY, PLEASE!”

Niall runs up the stairs to his room, sliding the phone open on the way. “Hello?” he pants, slamming the door.

“Leaving you breathless, am I?” Zayn replies with a smirk, which spreads to a full-blown smile at Niall’s giggling. “Listen,” he begins as Niall composes himself. “Thanks for the pizza. I really don’t know what to say. There’s...a lot of stuff going on in my head right now and I’m having kind of a hard time sorting things out.”

“Yeah...”

“This is kinda hard over the phone. Awkward. I can’t see your expressions and all.”

“Do you want to come over? I can pick you up,” Niall asks, hopefully.

“I do! I do it’s just...” Zayn exhales and swallows thickly. “It’s...my mum wasn’t here when I got in. I don’t know where she went or when she’ll be back; if she’ll be back. I can’t leave the girls alone, plus I need to put them to bed soon.”  
Niall furrows his brow, determined to make this happen. “Ok, they can come too. Pack their school stuff and pajamas and they can stay in the guest room. I’ll take us all to school in the morning?"   
“...”

“Please?”

“Will your parents be ok with that?”

“I’m not asking them I’m telling them. You too. Get packed. I’ll be there in a half hour, traffic willing.”

Bossy Niall makes Zayn grin. “Ok. Ok good. See you soon.”

\---------

Zayn gets himself and his sisters packed up and, as they wait for Niall, he calls his mother, only to hear her forgotten phone ring on the coffee table in front of him. He sighs and writes a note which he tapes to the front door as Niall pulls up. As an afterthought, he adds "P.S. There's pizza in the 'fridge," thinking to himself "no thanks to you."

Niall scampers around to the kerb side of the car and opens the back for the girls with a broad smile. "I'm Niall!" The girls have no idea what to make of this and scoot into the backseat, sharing confused looks. 

"Niall and I have Geography class together," Zayn explains as he fastens his buckle. Niall smiles, checks the mirrors, and pulls out. "Niall bought us the pizza," Zayn adds over his shoulder. 

"Did you like it?" asks Niall, hopefully, glancing at them in the rear-view. 

"Yes, thank you," they reply in unison. Both Zayn and Niall relax noticeably, but that's not what the girls notice. Waliyha nudges Safaa and nods to the center console where the boys are loosely holding hands. Safaa watches with interest as Zayn lightly strokes Niall’s thumb with his own. She looks to his face to see him smiling lightly at Niall, a smile that reaches his eyes: a smile she hasn’t seen in a long time.

\------------  
After Niall introduces everyone to his parents, they retire to their suite and leave the gang to the media room. Niall and Zayn walk in, followed by the girls who freeze in the doorway. They nervously take in the huge TV, high ceilings, video games, racks of DVDs, expensive stereo, and bar where Niall is busy microwaving a bag of popcorn. They inch in cautiously and gingerly sit on the edge of one of the large, white couches.   
“Is this where we’re sleeping?” asks Waliyha.   
“Oh no,” replies Niall. “You’ll be upstairs in the guest room. We just have the one so you’ll have to share a bed, I’m afraid.” The girls glance at each other and Zayn is relieved neither blurts that they have to share a bed at home anyway. As Niall pours some popcorn into a bowl for the girls, there is a spirited debate about what to watch and Zayn is outvoted three to one: The Incredibles it is. After Niall pulls it from the rack he finds Spider-man, holds it up to Zayn and mouths “later.” Zayn grins as he watches Niall start the movie, turn the lights down, and then take two cozy throws from a basket under the coffee table, giving one to the girls and bringing the other to the couch where Zayn is sprawled out along its length.   
With a dramatic flourish, Niall snaps the blanket out, plops down in the center of the couch, and aligns himself with Zayn as it slowly drifts down. Zayn instinctively, yet unsurely, wraps his arm around Niall's waist, pulse quickening as he scoots back further into the embrace. Zayn slightly tightens his hold while lightly nosing the back of Niall's head, wanting so badly to press a kiss there. He lifts his head nervously when he hears the girls giggle, but he realizes it's at the Violet character crushing on her on-screen schoolmate. Niall turns slightly to look up at him with a smirk. Zayn shrugs and grins in return. Niall glances over to the next couch and makes a big production of adjusting the blanket to distract from the fact that he's shifting around to face Zayn. Zayn watches as Niall timidly touches his chest, glances at his mouth, then bites his lip and curls his fingers softly against the flannel. Where is the cocky tease from class? wonders Zayn, breath shallow, heart racing. Where is the confident, popular boy with everyone seemingly wrapped around his finger? Hesitantly, Zayn pulls him a bit closer. Niall slides his hands up around Zayn's shoulders, nose grazing the skin just under his collarbone. Zayn feels the soft shuddering breaths against his skin and realizes: He's as confused and nervous as I am -- He's waiting for me. He sneaks a look at his sisters: Safaa is fast asleep, sprawled out in that seemingly boneless way only children can accomplish. Waliyha is heavy-lidded; stubbornly fighting slumber, a battle she's destined to lose shortly. Zayn nervously tugs the blanket up a bit more and slides his nose gently across Niall's forehead and down the side of his face, bringing them cheek to cheek. His lips graze his ear as he murmurs, "I've never..."   
Niall cuts him off: "Me neither." Zayn places his fingers lightly on Niall's neck and slowly, softly kisses down his jaw line to his chin, where he places a long, slow kiss to his dimple. He noses his chin up and kisses down then up his neck and Adam’s apple. Niall's lips are slightly parted, eyelids drooping lightly, lashes fluttering on his flushed cheeks. "Please -" he whispers. "Please -" fingers raking up through Zayn's hair. Zayn inches up to rest his forehead on Niall's, just the idea of space between their mouths, both gasping as Zayn closes it. This...THIS. Oh GOD this, thinks Zayn, gently shifting Niall onto his back so he can slot their legs together. 

Niall's lips part in a soft moan as Zayn grinds slowly against him; he uses the opportunity to hungrily lick inside, Niall responding in kind. His hands thread into Niall's hair as he gently tugs his head back and dives for his neck, biting and sucking, listening to Niall's breath hitch. Niall's hands leave Zayn's hair and suddenly they're on his ass pulling him down harder. 

"Harder," gasps Niall. "More. Faster." 

Zayn pants as he obliges, whispering "shhh" and suppressing a grunt of his own at the delicious friction. 

"So close...don't stop..." hisses Niall. 

"S-same," grunts Zayn as he ruts down into him repeatedly, as violently as he dares with the girls ten feet away. Niall throws his head back in a noiseless moan, jerking beneath him, and that's all it takes for Zayn. He shakily rocks them through their orgasms and collapses on top of Niall.

"Wow," pants Zayn as soon as he has enough breath. 

"I didn't realize how badly I wanted that," Niall whispers. Zayn kisses him softly over and over until Niall's smiling from ear to ear. Thoroughly spent, they fall asleep tangled together.

\-----------

Zayn's eyes flutter open when the TV suddenly shuts off. He realizes the DVD's menu screen had been cycling for hours and the abrupt silence suddenly jolted him awake. He freezes and slams his eyes back shut when he hears Niall's parents quietly murmuring as they tidy up cups and bowls.

"Were you going to tell me about this?"

"Well I wasn't sure, I only know he's been talking non-stop for days about him."

"But you didn't tell me that even."

"I DID! You don't LISTEN."

"Well I'm not sure I approve, I mean if we had a daughter this would be totally unacceptable... why are they here again?"

"I believe there's an issue with the mother. We don't know there's anything going on yet." 

*sighing* "Are you ok carrying her?"

"Yes, she's just a slip of a thing."

"What about them?"

"They're fine I think. Let them sleep." Zayn's heart is thudding as they carry the girls out; he looks down at Niall and makes a decision.

\-----------

He blinks his eyes open in the morning to the smell of coffee and pancakes and the far-off sound of the girls giggling. He looks down at Niall also starting to stir and grins. Niall looks blearily up at him then smiles as he remembers. "Hey," says Zayn. 

"Hey," responds Niall who then shyly buries his face in the crook of Zayn's neck. Niall murmurs, "...shower first?" 

Zayn says, "You go ahead."

While Niall's in the shower, Zayn fishes through his wallet and finds the business card. The call goes surprisingly smoothly and they assure him working around his school schedule won't be a problem, though he felt really uneasy when they told him how many of their actors were still at university. He makes an appointment for an interview later in the day.

By the time he's showered (and borrowed unsoiled pants from Niall) and come down for breakfast, Zayn has no idea where to look. To stave off the panic, he chooses to blurt at the girls "Are the pancakes as good as they smell?" The girls nod, too busy shoveling in the most substantial breakfast they've had in months, and Maura sets a plate before Zayn who thanks her emphatically, Niall wordlessly transferring his bacon to his own plate with as little fanfare as possible. Zayn allows himself a small smile and a bit of a heart flutter. Bobby plods in and says, "No one told me anything about pancakes!" 

Maura blurts, "I told you last night!" 

Zayn absentmindedly murmurs, "I hear you don't listen," and Niall's fork clatters to his plate. 

He looks at Zayn and he gasps, "You woke up too?"

Bobby: "Ok NOW I'm listening. Tell me what you have to say - Is that a HICKEY?!"

Safaa: "They're boyfriends."

Zayn: "SAFAA! We haven't discussed that."

Safaa: "But I saw how you looked at each other: like Mum and Da did before he didn't love us anymore."

Zayn leaps from his seat with such force his chair falls back and runs...where? Somewhere else. There is so much "somewhere else" in this house that it isn't hard to find. Why does everything in his life have to be the most emotionally exhausting thing ever?

Niall finds him in a room that is so forgotten that it doesn't even have a name. He's sitting bleary-eyed on a stack of National Geographic magazines, next to a harp. "We own a HARP?!!" Niall thinks; he can only imagine how that must seem to Zayn. He meets Niall's eyes, and then looks away.

Niall gives him a tentative hug and says, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Zayn takes quite a bit of time to compose himself. “It’s really hard. It got so ugly before he left, then it turned out he has kids with another woman he’d been seeing for years; he left us for her. My mother...well, you saw my mother. It totally broke her. We moved here because she found a job then she got fired for being drunk at work. I don’t think she’s paid the rent in months, we’re almost out of food, and I don’t know what’s going to happen to us.” He let out a shaky sigh. “I have a job I’m looking into this afternoon, but I don’t know. I’m worried it will affect school...I’m so worn down.” He looks down. “The last couple weeks or so I’ve spent with you has been the only thing that makes me happy. Thanks for being a friend.”

“Just a friend?” Niall says, hopefully.

Zayn looks up and smiles back. “More than a friend.”

Niall rubs his back as they hug again: “Let’s go finish those pancakes.”

\----------

They drop off the girls and head to school. At Zayn’s locker, Niall says shyly: “I enjoyed last night.”

Zayn smirks and says, “Me too.” 

Niall blushes and says, “Well not just that...I enjoyed spending time with you. Can you come over again tonight?”

“Well I have that job thing, and then I need to go see if my mum ever surfaced and check on the girls.”

“Oh, I forgot the job. Do you want me to give you a lift?”

Zayn blurts a panicked “NO!” 

Startled, Niall lets out, “O-okay?”

“See you at lunch then?”

Niall nods, glances around, and then trails the tips of his fingers along Zayn's wrist.  
“Hey,” whispers Zayn, taking his hand. “I’m not ashamed of you or anything.”

“I just wasn’t sure if...”

“Nah, it’s ok. C’mere.” He pulls him into a hug in front of God and everybody and says, “Anyone gives you shit they have to answer to me. See you at lunch.” Niall can’t help but grin as he watches him leave.

\-----------

The studio turns out to be close enough to school that Zayn can walk there. It looks respectable enough from the outside. For a fleeting moment, he lets himself consider it might be a legit business after all and opens the door. Lobby seems normal enough, he thinks, and introduces himself to the receptionist.

“Have a seat. I’ll let them know you’re here.” She dials a number and after a moment murmurs “Mr. Malik has arrived.” Zayn smirks at the "Mr. Malik" and jiggles his foot nervously for what seems forever, but is only a few moments, before someone comes around the corner and greets him. 

“Welcome Mr. Malik, right this way.” As they walk, she says, “The producers are very excited you called and I have to say, now I see why.” 

Zayn blushes and grunts, “Thanks.” 

They enter an office where a very “business-y” looking man is sitting behind a desk and the woman from the park is seated off to the side. He introduces himself and tells Zayn to have a seat. “Excellent work, Marla! You’ve really outdone yourself.” Marla smiles and gives him a nod that conveys both gratitude and condescension. “Now,” he continues, “Here’s how it works: You get paid a flat rate per session or scene. If you progress to videos, there’s a sliding pay rate based on which things you’re willing to do.” He slides a piece of paper across the desk to Zayn with a long list of items followed by dollar amount. Zayn’s eyes first dart to the figures, which he has to admit are quite generous for what he assumes will be a couple hours work: then he looks at the list and sees why. His first instinct was right – as his heart pounds, he skims and realizes he is not willing to do ANY of these things. He was expecting maybe some nudity, but this? He just had his first sexual experience last night and he was fully clothed even for that!

“Now, Marla tells me you’re a student, so we’ll give you a call and set something up for this weekend, OK?”

Zayn nods as he carefully lays the paper on the desk, making sure to set his hand down on top of it so they won’t see how badly he’s trembling. He stands, shakes the man’s hand, absent-mindedly folds the paper and puts it in the pocket of his jacket, thanks him, and leaves. On the tube ride home Zayn thinks, I’ll just block their number on my phone. I’m sure it must happen a lot. They’re probably used to it.

When Zayn arrives home, he's relieved to see his mother has returned, but not to see her unconscious on the couch again. The girls are sitting on the floor watching the TV and he asks them how long she’s been out. 

“Since before we got home; around 4.” He sets his satchel down and starts looking for a bottle. Puzzled that he doesn't see one, he notices a small case on the table, and curious, looks inside. He flinches, snaps it shut, and backs away, but not before checking to see if his mother still has a pulse. 

Exhaling, he moves to another room, away from the girls, before he dials Niall. 

"Hey cutie."

Zayn, shakily: "Can you come over?"

"Of course...what's wrong?!"

"I need you, please hurry."

"As soon as I can, I promise." 

Warily, Zayn takes the paper out of his pocket and rereads it with a sigh.

\-----

After nearly taking a couple of roundabouts on two wheels, Niall arrives in record time. Zayn pulls him into the kitchen, clutching him desperately. 

Niall murmurs, "What is it?"

Zayn: "Heroin."

Niall: "Your mum?!"

Zayn nods.

Niall: "Jaysus!"

Zayn: “What am I going to do?”

Niall doesn’t know what to say so he just holds him closer. 

After Zayn calms down a bit, he asks, “Can you stay?” 

Niall replies, “Yeah, I’ll just have to call me mum so she doesn't worry.” Zayn nods and goes back into the living room. Slumping into the chair, he stares at the TV screen even though he's too distracted for anything to register. 

Moments later, Niall comes back into the room, grimacing. “I should’ve called her cell. It was Da who answered and gave me all kinds of bullshit. I told him to stuff it because this was important. Wanker.” He pulls Zayn up, steals his seat, then pulls Zayn into his lap. Instinctively, he puts his head on Niall’s shoulder and curls up into a ball. 

Niall asks the girls, “What are we watching?” 

Safaa replied, "'Big Time Movie.' Waliyha has a crush on James.” 

“Shut up Safaa, I do not!” 

Niall: “Who doesn’t have a crush on James?” 

Zayn: “Hey!” giving him a shove and a grin. 

Niall: “Don’t worry, you’re pretty enough for me,” then laughs when Zayn imitates James’ “The Face” gesture. The sound of Niall’s laughter makes Zayn smile for the first time in hours and he feels his mood lift a bit.

During a commercial, Niall asks, “So did you get the job?” 

Zayn pauses, then wearily replies, “Yeah. They may have something for me as soon as this weekend.”

Niall: “Well that’s good, isnt it?

Zayn: “It’s kind of a gross job; I’m not looking forward to it.”

Niall: “What, like a janitor or something?”

Zayn: “Seriously, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Niall considers the top of Zayn’s head and turns back to the TV.

\--------

After the movie ends, Zayn declares it bedtime which elicits much groaning and pleas to stay up just a little longer from the girls. “No, I already let you stay up an extra hour and we have to get up early tomorrow to pick up Niall’s backpack from his house before school.” 

Safaa replies: “Niall is spending the night? SLUMBER PARTY!!!” 

Zayn: “NO slumber party! The only partying you’ll be doing is in your dreams. Go change and brush your teeth.” 

As the girls head down the hall, Zayn begins turning off the lights and TV, stopping to take his phone out and hold it under his mother’s nose until he sees the screen fog slightly. “Not dead yet!” he says jauntily, trying to make light of a horrible situation. Niall smiles weakly and Zayn gives him a kiss and says, “Thanks for coming over; it makes it not hurt so badly having you around.” Niall gives him an extra squeeze and, when they hear the girls leave the bathroom, Zayn shuts off the last light and they follow them down the hall.

“Bathroom’s right here, if you need it.” Niall nods and follows Zayn into a room barely big enough for the two twin beds wedged into it. It dawns on him that aside from the kitchenette, this is the only other room in the flat; Zayn’s mom is on the couch because she doesn’t have a bedroom of her own. He hadn’t realized their situation was that awful; that the chest of drawers the TV sat on wasn't just a makeshift console, but where she actually stored her clothes. 

“Do you need anything to sleep in?” Zayn asks. 

Niall absentmindedly says, “Meh, I don’t usually wear anything to bed.” 

Zayn raises his eyebrow and Niall reddens at the giggles coming from the next bed. “Oh, right. Yeah, I need something.” Zayn is glad he has to turn to get to his clothes because he reddened a little himself at the twitch in his pants when he pictured Niall naked in bed with him. He pulls a shallow box from under his bed and rifles through what few clothes he has. Jesus, he doesn’t even have a cupboard of his own; they couldn’t possibly fit one! Niall thinks. He snaps back to attention as he’s hit in the face with a t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. “Twat,” he mutters. Zayn smirks and takes his sweatpants and t-shirt from the foot of his bed.

While they’re in the bathroom changing, Niall stops to admire Zayn’s tattoo. He lightly runs his fingers across it and asks what it says. 

Zayn replies, “It’s my grandfather’s name in Arabic.” 

"It’s lovely; what was your grandfather’s name?" 

“Walter.” 

Niall barks out a laugh. “I see why you chose another language.” 

Zayn grins. “Your laugh always makes me feel better.” 

Niall grins back as he edges closer and cups Zayn’s crotch, huskily whispering: “I bet I know what else will make you feel better.” Zayn swallows thickly as Niall rubs him slowly through his jeans and backs him against the counter. "Got a chubby thinkin' 'bout me nekkid, I see." he teases.

Zayn’s eyes grow wide as Niall sinks to his knees and begins to unbutton his fly. “N-Niall! My sisters are right in the next room, and my mum!” 

Niall looks up at him with a filthy smirk and murmurs, “Guess you’ll just have to be quiet while I suck you off then, eh?” Zayn is speechless as Niall pulls his trousers and pants down and is breathless as Niall slowly smoothes the now-full erection against his stomach. "It's gorgeous." He whispers. "You're gorgeous," he says, looking up at Zayn who is struggling to breathe. He palms him and begins to stroke him slowly, lightly, while pressing gentle kisses to his thighs, eventually lapping at his balls, taking one in his mouth and suckling gently. Zayn throws his head back with a deep gasp, pleasing Niall greatly. He licks slowly up the bottom of Zayn's cock while massaging his thighs with his thumbs, flicking the tip. He takes the base in his hand, looks lustily up at Zayn and murmurs, "I've never done this before so I'm open to coaching. Tell me if you want something different than what I'm doing." 

"You're doing great," pants Zayn. At last, Niall takes him in his mouth and Zayn cannot believe it. Short bobs at first, going deeper as he becomes more confident and used to it, using his hand to compensate for what he can't take in comfortably. Zayn fists his hands through Niall's hair, not to force him but to touch, to encourage, as he's rendered speechless by the intensity and the newness of what he's feeling. Niall suddenly focuses on the tip, his tongue pressing insistently on the underside and without warning, Zayn is coming. Niall pulls away, gracelessly sputtering as he awkwardly wanks him through. 

Zayn weakly slides to the floor chuckling as Niall sullenly pulls some toilet paper off the roll to wipe the semen off his cheeks. 

"That wasn't how I wanted that to go," he pouts. "I wanted to swallow like a champ. I just got, like, startled or something." 

Zayn replies: "Baby, that was above and beyond. Don't ever do anything you don't want. I would never ask you to." 

"It just didn't taste like what I thought it would...and there was more than I thought and it was so fast." 

"Shhh." Zayn kisses him. "Really, though, we need to get to bed." 

They tip toe into the room so as to not wake the girls and, as they curl into each other, Niall timidly whispers: "Do you believe in love at first sight?" 

Zayn kisses him deeply, overwhelmed and says: "I didn't until you walked into class." 

Niall: "I love you." 

Zayn: "I love you, too." 

Waliyha: "Gross! OW!" as Safaa punches her in the shoulder. They all fall asleep smiling.

\----------

The alarm comes much too early and Zayn is surprised to hear three voices from down the hall as he and Niall rub their eyes. He gives him a kiss and mutters, "Morning. Sorry there's nothing to eat." 

Niall responds, "Not a problem. We'll stop at Starbucks or something on the way." 

Zayn takes his hand and says, "Hey, once I get paid and caught up here, I'll start paying you back ok?" 

Niall, surprised, says, "What?" 

"I'll pay you back for all the stuff you're doing for us, I promise." 

Niall looks at him incredulously and says: "Zayn, these things are not a loan, and they're not charity. They're because I love you and don't want your family to starve to death for my selfish reason of keeping you all around as long as possible. If anything, it's a bribe." 

Zayn rolls out of bed because he doesn't want Niall to see him about to crumble and mutters, "I'mma take a shower. Help yourself to any clothes if you want."

When Niall is finished taking his turn in the bathroom, he's surprised to see Zayn still sitting on the bed and not in the kitchen with his family. "What's up?" 

"I don't want to see her. I don't want to talk to her. They don't know about the heroin, so they don't understand and I'm not going to turn them against her. I don't care so much about me. I can take care of myself. But she's essentially abandoned Safaa and Waliyha. I am not ok with that." 

"Well, like it or not, we have to collect them and go to school." Zayn sighs and nods.

They walk into the kitchen together and Patricia says, "ZAYN! How are you? Who is your friend?"

Zayn rolls his eyes back as far as he possibly can and says, "This is Niall. You may or may not remember puking on him on the stoop."

No reply.

"Girls, you will wait for me in the car with Niall."

The three of them scurry out, looking vaguely alarmed.

Niall is nervously readjusting the mirror for the third time when he sees Zayn exit the flat, giving his cheek a slight rub.

"What happened?" he asks, as Zayn gets in the car.

"Just drive."

They drop off the girls and Niall pulls over a block or so later. 

Zayn takes a minute to compose himself before he blurts out, "I told her to keep that shit out of sight of the girls and I know she doesn't have any money for it and to keep whoever she was fucking for it out of the house...then she smirked."

Niall sucks in a breath.

"I called her a whore and she clouted me."

Niall doesn't know what to say so he puts the car in gear and they drive to school in silence.

\----------

It's months later and Niall is walking down the school hall with a massive grin on his face. Zayn, finally caught up with the rent, the bills, and the empty pantry, had taken him out the day before and treated him like a right princess. Niall hadn't expected to be swept off his feet and after a day at the Tate Modern and a quiet stroll through Hyde park, during the candle-lit dinner revealed to Zayn that his parents would soon be on a two-week cruise, hoping he wouldn't have to spell out what he was implying. They'd been spending their alone times studying, then taking "study breaks" (which was code for watching porn and getting ideas for new things to try). They discovered so much about each other: Zayn adored nipple play, but disliked being spanked; Niall loved to be over-stimulated, but not dominated; Zayn was not so fond of being fingered, but Niall couldn't get enough of it and was curious to eventually try actual penetration...it just seemed like such a big step: he needed to be ready. 

Zayn gently took his hand and said, "Sure?" 

Niall nodded, though he was secretly terrified.

 

After school that day, Niall hears Zayn fling his pen down on his algebra book and suggests, with a waggle of his eyebrows, "Study break?" Zayn smirks and answers, "Yeah." 

Niall pulls his laptop over and asks, "In a particular mood?" Zayn shrugs. At this point, neither has hit on a specific kink, so they're not picky about porn; just naked people getting off is still exciting.

Niall picks something at random and, after a few minutes, he can tell it's not impressing either of them. His eye wanders to the sidebar of "suggested videos" and blurts, "Oh my God! That guy looks exactly like you!" 

Zayn bristles and says, "Yeah, I guess you might understand that that might make me uncomfortable?"

Niall: "No way am I missing this!" ::clicks::

Video begins to play: man getting frisky with wife?/gf? who says "Didn't you just order a pizza?"

Niall: "Oh my god, really?! It's a 'pizza man'?! "

Zayn: "Niall, really I don't want to watch this."

Niall: "Oh no! I LOVE the cheesy ones; just wait there will be an 'extra sausage' joke! OMG I said 'cheesy' HAHAHAHAHA!"

(the pizza delivery arrives)

Niall: "He LIT'RALLY looks JUST LIKE YOU."

Zayn: "So you can see why I'm uneasy?"

Niall ignores him and watches raptly; Zayn can only stare at his hands on his lap.

Niall shouts, "There's the sausage joke! I called it!" slapping his thigh and laughing as the woman fumbles with the deliveryman's pants.

(the delivery guy removes his shirt)

Niall slams the laptop shut and hurls it across the room so violently it lodges in the drywall at a jaunty angle.

Niall: "That's YOUR tattoo! That's YOU!"

Zayn: "..."

Niall: "That's your response to the fact that you fuck people for a living?? You can't even look me in the eye and say to my face why you disrespect me this much? I'm nothing to you, am I? You said you loved me but you just sucked my dick so I would keep buying you shit."

Zayn looks up, jaw clenched with rage: "That is NOT true. I don't think you truly appreciate my situation given your own."

Niall: "I'd appreciate you leaving...now. And you called your mum a whore?"

Zayn, seething, begins violently shoving books into his bag and storms out, making the long trip home on foot. Only after Niall sees him through the window stamping determinedly down the arched driveway does he allow his fury to become misery, crying heaving, snotty, gasping tears. 

"Stupid!" he hisses, wiping his cheeks. "How could you BE so stupid!" 

As Zayn trudges down the street he mutters the same thing for entirely different reasons.

\--------- 

The next week is horrible. They pass each other in the halls at school and pointedly avoid eye contact. After a couple days Niall's mom asks at dinner if something happened between him and Zayn. He throws his fork onto his plate and blindly runs to his room, throwing himself on the bed and burying his head in the pillow. Sure enough he hears his mum whisper "Niall?" outside moments later.

"Mum, I don't want to talk about it...it's not 'Mum friendly.'"

Awkward pause..."Niall is this about sex? I have two sons so obviously I'm not a stranger to it..."

"MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM NOOOOOOOOO!"

"Well what if you talked to your dad?"

Niall groans theatrically and opens the door saying "You know what? I don't want to talk TO dad I want to talk ABOUT dad."

Maura steps in uncertainly and sits at his desk chair, primly waiting for Niall to begin. Niall takes a seat cross-legged on the bed composing his thoughts.

"What do you see in him? I'm honestly curious. This can't be how you pictured it ending up. I can shake off how he treats me but he just dismisses you."

She thinks back to their dating days and says "He was very determined to succeed. He was 'savvy'. He was very sure of himself. 'Going places". He was very polite. I knew he would make a good impression on my parents." There is a long pause before she admits: "He married me when I told him I was pregnant with your brother. Keep in mind this was the '90s not the '50s and that was not the expected thing anymore...what I'm trying to say is if I hadn't married your dad I'd still have Greg but I wouldn't have you and I can't imagine that."

Niall's mum has the good sense to leave after he throws the comforter over himself and rolls away; he just hopes it's before she sees his shoulders heaving.

___

A couple days later Niall is curled up on his window seat, just staring at the street, willing something - anything - to happen. 

He hears a rap at the door and is confused because a) his dad would just barge in, and b) his mom would be too timid to knock.

"Yeah?"

"It's me, Greg."

Niall freezes - it must be bad if she's called Greg home from Uni.

"It's open; c'min."

Greg takes a seat on the bed across from him and after catching up a bit and some chit-chat says "Listen, Mum says you were seeing someone who suited you but it didn't work out?"

Niall: "It pretty much didn't work out in the worst way possible."

Greg: "What did she do?!"

Niall: "..."

"...His name is Zayn."

Greg: "Oh shit. Let me regroup a minute."

Greg: "Ok he must be a hell of a guy if even Dad knows. What happened?"

Niall: "Well, the short story is he cheated on me; the long story is way more complicated than that and I accused him of something I know is untrue but I wanted him to hurt as badly as I did."

Greg cocks his head slightly, wordlessly encouraging him to continue.

"His family situation is really fucked up. Then I realize so is ours, but because we have money we can pretend it isn't. That isn't a luxury he has. He's trying to feed his family and go to school at the same time and still make time for me. He did a hell of a job at it and in the end I think it's me who was wrong."

Greg processes this for a few minutes and blurts: "Wait...is he a prostitute?!"

Niall: "NO!! Well...Oh god when you put it like that it's worse. Technically he is and lets people film it." Niall buries his face in his hands.

Greg stares at him, speechless.

"His...his mom's an addict with no job and his dad is gone and he has two sisters to feed and he has to make as much as he can in the shortest time possible to still be able to graduate."

He turns back to the window to let Greg digest what he's said.

Finally, Greg responds: "Do you love him?"

Niall murmurs: "Yes."

Greg asks: "Is he good to you?"

Niall closes his eyes and nods.

"Is he good FOR you?"

Niall turns towards him and says: "You know, I was up here moping and mum said something about 'Why don't you hang out with one of your other friends?' and I realized I don't have any friends. It didn't dawn on me until now; I'm 'popular'... everyone knows me to say 'Hi' to but I don't have a single friend but for Zayn. The other day I was talking to a guy in the hall and when the bell rang he said 'See you at Shane's party!' and I not only hadn't been invited to the party - I didn't know who the hell Shane was. It dawned on me I wasn't even sure of the guy's name I was talking to. It was either Jim or Tim, but I couldn't be sure. Zayn's the only person who actually knows me, who I can talk to about anything and he gets where I'm coming from. He made me realize I was trying to be all things to all people and what I really need is to be just me to only one person."

Greg looks down and Niall turns back to the window. They're both quiet for a long time before Greg breaks the silence.

"I hate to be Dad-like on you -"

"No I could use one, just not ours."

Greg chuckles.

"But...what does Zayn plan to do for a living, like after this...?"

Niall smiles fondly. "He wants to illustrate children's books. He's shown me some of his drawings and he's really good...as far as I know I'm the only one he's shown."

Greg smiles and says "You know what this is? This is a Bump in the Road. It's a VERY LARGE bump, but I think you can ride it out. It depends on which of you is going to shift gears and get over it."

\-----

Torn between pain and curiosity, he finally breaks down and decides. In less than a minute, Niall finds himself staring at every video listed under Zayn's porn name. 

A few hours later, Niall finds a video that with horror strikes him as all wrong. He's doing things Zayn would never do. HIS Zayn would never do. Things they've agreed they'd be too uncomfortable to do. He realizes it's not His Zayn. None of them are His Zayn. He checks the timestamp on the video, sees it's the latest upload and slowly closes the laptop.

\-------

Moving quietly, Niall lets himself in with the key Zayn had made for him. His sisters are sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, watching some sing-off show. Mom is passed out again on the couch and Niall absentmindedly holds his phone up to her nose, asking, "Who's in the lead?" 

After no response, from either, Niall drops her cold wrist and walks into the bedroom and curls around Zayn, who winces, then relaxes when he realizes who it is. Niall is not so relaxed; as he fingers the hem of his t-shirt he murmurs "I need to see." He lifts up the shirt and sees the weals, a couple of them still bleeding. He's speechless for some time, then whispers "Why?"

"Whatever she was giving him wasn't enough...or she needed more. I was afraid of what she might do to get money. After all's said and done, she's still me mum."

Niall shudders and says "I have good news, and I have bad news. The good news is you won't have to do this anymore, the bad - "

Zayn: "Shit."

"I'm going to call emergency and take the girls out to the movies. Can you handle things?"

Zayn swallows thickly and nods.

\---------

A few hours later Niall and the girls return, Safaa still nibbling through her bag of Off the Wall bulk candy. Niall glances to see that the body has been removed then winces at how quickly she went from being "Zayn's mum" to "The Body". 

"Um. Zayn must be in the bedroom, let's go see him ok?"

They nod absently and he leads them in to see Zayn on his bed. The girls pile on chattering about the movie, not noticing his puffy, red eyes and exhaustion and Naill lays a hand on his shoulder and murmurs into his ear: "Do you want me to be here or alone?"

Zayn croaks "Alone."

Niall gives a squeeze and says "I'm in the living room if you need me."

Zayn nods.

\-------

Niall calls his mother to let her know why he won't be home. She says "Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. Much love to Zayn and the girls."

He attempts some algebra, but the weeping from down the hall is distracting, and he eventually ends up on HGTV for a couple hours watching rich people quibble about if this or that place has enough room to "entertain" and has enough cat doors or deck space for them. Halfway through a heated debate over whether they would prefer the house with the granite countertops, or the one with the under-floor heating in the bathroom Niall mutters bitterly: "Make sure there's room for your harp." and shuts the TV off, feeling somewhat angry at the world.

He still hears quiet murmurs and hitched breaths down the hall and has no intention of intruding. This is obviously a very private family moment but he feels the need to be here. He needs them to know he's there if they need him. He needs to know they're ok, if only for his own satisfaction.

He pads into the kitchen for a snack, finding the fridge empty. "Huh." he thinks, turning to open the cupboard to the left: Nothing. 15 minutes later he's standing in the center of the kitchen with every cupboard and drawer open, empty, and staring at the three edible things he's found on the counter: half a sleeve of crackers, a package of taco mix, and a box of expired sugar cubes riddled with ants; dead as a result of their own gluttony. He covers his mouth and actually begins to shake realizing Zayn hadn't caught up -- he was actually willing to go hungry to impress him, even putting his sisters at risk, and it was thanklessly thrown back in his face. He remembers Zayn watching wordlessly as he, completely oblivious, disdainfully shoved the handful of grape tomatoes off his overpriced salad. He then remembers Zayn's jaw clenching slightly as he declined a take home box and the half Prime Rib he couldn't finish was whisked away to the trash, effectively robbing him of money that could have bought days worth of groceries, or at the very least, leftovers HE could have eaten.

Then there was the other thing he found: in the cabinet above the refrigerator that no one ever uses was the photo album. Niall unsteadily brought it back to the living room and began to page through it. 

The first photos are of course Zayn's parents dating: the cheesy photo booth pictures; group dates; school dances; bowling alleys; roller rinks. Wedding pictures, pregnancy pictures. Niall marvels at the vibrancy of Zayn's mother. She was beautiful before she was destroyed, as he has only seen her. Had only seen her. 

Niall turns the pages until he gets to Zayn's pictures and can't help but smile. Zayn in the tub as a toddler with his floaty toys; Zayn on his tricycle; Zayn on his birthdays; Zayn at the zoo, eyes wide with wonder as the burro ate the pellets from his hand. Niall notices distinctly when Yaser is no longer in the pictures. A few pages later he notices there are no more pictures; perhaps because people don't really do pictures anymore...or perhaps because it was just too painful.

He checks his watch and cracks the door to the bedroom to see Zayn and the girls clutching each other in sleep. He un-shoes himself and gets into the girls' bed. 

\-----

But for the occasional sniffle, the flat is eerily silent as they morosely get ready for school. While the girls are taking a bath and Zayn's pulling his socks on, Niall gently lays a hand on his shoulder and murmurs "Let's stop for breakfast on the way, yeah?" Zayn clenches his jaw and nods with his eyes shut. It was awkward, but Niall hopes he handled it in the least awkward way possible. 

He suggests a sit-down, but not impractical restaurant, rather than "grabbing a muffin" thinking the girls would be in need of comfort food. He is stunned when they order cereal. Thinking they're being shy he says "You can order anything." Waliyha looks down and whispers "I just want Fruit Loops. Is that...ok?" Niall, with a lump in his throat, says "Yes. Yes, of course."

Niall waits in the car while Zayn talks to the girls' Headmaster and teachers as to why they might not want any unwanted attention for the day or may act out or strangely. 

After they drop the girls off they drive in silence for a while before Zayn says "Niall, what am I going to do?" Niall's quiet for a moment and finally replies: "Let's skip today, yeah?" Zayn nods and Niall turns the car around and they make their way back to Zayn's.

They're lying on Zayn's bed just quietly holding each other when Zayn finally says "When the school finds out the girls have no parents they'll have them taken away. When the council finds out there's no adult here I'll be evicted." For once Niall is at a loss for words and can only think to rub comforting circles on Zayn's back. "I mean, she was a shit mother, but she held us together on a technicality: All I had to do was catch her in a lucid moment to sign anything that looked official. Now I don't even have that...do you see what I'm getting at?" Niall pauses and tensely says "No?"

"I don't 'not have to do it anymore.' I'll probably have to do it more just to keep a roof over our heads and stay in school."

Niall sits bolt upright and says "No. I'm fixing this. Wait here." as if Zayn was going anywhere.

Zayn nods off to Niall murmuring into his phone in the next room. 

~~~

Zayn awakes with fluttering eyelashes to Niall surrounded by Smirnoff and Guinness boxes from the bar down the street, packing up the girls' clothes...

It's his turn to sit bolt upright and blurt: "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Niall looks up and says: "You're moving in with us. Mum says she'll adopt the girls if she has to, but reckons you'll be ok on your own if it comes to that."

Zayn just stares then replies: "There is NO WAY your father agreed to that."

Niall shrugs. "He probably won't even notice...Want to give me a hand here?"

Zayn rubs his face and groans "What time is it even?"

"Barely noon, you were only out a couple hours."

Zayn nods and joins Niall on the floor to pack. They're able to condense everything into four boxes: One for each of the girls and Zayn, and one with shoes/toiletries/misc. Zayn looks around at all the extra boxes and says "Why'd you get so many?"

Niall: "We need to pack your mom's stuff too, and like, the pots and pans and stuff, y'know, for charity."

Zayn looks down and slightly away before he says: "Could you maybe do that? I'll take the sheets and the other washing to the laundrette before we leave."

"You don't want to make sure there's something of hers you want?"

"No."

"What about the girls?"

"No."

"No jewelry or -"

"NO Niall! Everything of value has been pawned!"

"I'm talking sentimental stuff too! Surely you want the photo album?"

Zayn blinks and says "What photo album?"

Niall stares for a minute and goes "Come with me." He stops him in the living room and says "Wait here."

He returns from the kitchen with the book, pulling Zayn onto his lap in "their" chair.

He hands him the book and Zayn eyes it warily for a moment before opening it.

Niall watches him page through, lingering on some pictures, tearing up at some, smiling at others. Broad grin at one of his birthday snaps. He chuckles as he says "This was the first time she tried to bake a cake - she got the salt and the sugar canisters mixed up and it was inedible."

Niall laughs uproariously. "What did she say when she realized?" 

Zayn is quiet for a moment before he turns the page.

"She didn't. Everyone ate just enough to praise her yet not get high blood pressure."

Niall rests his cheek against Zayn's shoulder and wonders what it must have been like to grow up in a family that acknowledges other people's feelings. 

~~~~

A few days later they drop Niall's parents off at the Port for their cruise. It's of course only a 30 minute tube ride from Islington, but god forbid Niall's dad take the underground like common people. (Fine for his son, though.) They then return to the house to pick up the girls and deliver them to a slumber party being put on by classmates who are also sisters so they're both invited.

Once they're back at the house Niall tosses the keys in the "key bowl" by the door and makes a "Pffft" sound. Zayn cocks an eyebrow and suggestively says: "So it's just you and me, yeah?"

Niall's face lights up and they make a break for the media room; Zayn unfurling the mat and Niall frantically searching for the game. He finds it, holds it up, and they both shout "DANCE, DANCE, REVOLUTION!!!"

They dance for about an hour until they collapse on the floor, laughing hysterically:

"'Beauty and the Beat', REALLY?!"

"Shut it, Malik! You just did 'Single Ladies'!"

"And beat you!"

They giggle and Niall blurts "Jaysus, I stink - shower?"

 

It's not the first time they've showered together, but it's the first time they've not done it furtively. As Zayn languidly massages shampoo into Niall's hair he murmurs "Did you mean what you said?" Niall cocks his head and says "About?" 

"You know...about your parents being gone? I mean...I guess you didn't actually say anything, but I think you hinted."

"OH! I just assumed you'd be too bummed out because of your mom."

Zayn ducks Niall's head under the spray to rinse and says "Babe, she's been dead to me for ages."

Niall thinks back to the frantic call about the heroin and knows that's not true.

~~~~

"Okay," Zayn says when they're back in the bedroom, "I, um bought a thing."

Niall raises an eyebrow. "A thing."

"It's called a 'trainer'...here, let me show you."

Zayn roots around in his duffle, which he's yet to fully unpack, and comes back with lube, condoms, and the item in question which Niall is secretly relieved to see is still in its original packaging. He was also relieved to see the condoms because he felt a bit shy to bring up the issue that Zayn's profession puts him in an awkward position, disease-wise. 

"See, it's like a dildo, but starts out really small, and gets bigger step by step? There are even two sizes, so we can start with the small one if you want? And remember, if it's too much tonight we can stop. Always remember that."

Niall is oddly touched, inspecting the package. "Why purple?" He asks suspiciously...

Zayn smirks and deadpans: "Because if I was your boyfriend I'd never let you go."

Niall begins to beat him about his shoulders with the package, laughing: "You son-of-a-bitch! I knew you'd never let me live that down!!!"

"Swag, swag, swag on you!" whispers Zayn before dissolving into giggles.

Niall sighs and rolls his eyes. "How the hell do we get this open?" It's one of those infuriating fused plastic packages. Like "As Seen on TV!" (They're pretty sure this has not been seen on TV.)

Zayn: "I saw on some 'Life Hacks' blog you can use a manual can opener?"

Niall fixes him with a look. "You honestly think my mother owns a MANUAL can opener? Perhaps we should try to puncture it with the hood ornament on my dad's Bentley?"

Zayn chuckles. "Well technically an electric can opener has the same parts, just...electric? We could give it a try?"

They plod down to the kitchen and eventually find the can opener. (Niall of course does not cook, so has no idea where it is. Something he files away to correct at a later date.) Several frustrating minutes later it doesn't work. Niall says "Wait, maybe we have a manual that came with a kit or gift or something." 

Much raking through several drawers of utensils eventually yields a manual can opener which Zayn registers is nothing like his mom's from the junk store. They wrestle with the packaging for several minutes before admitting defeat. Niall turns to Zayn with a mock stricken look and sarcastically says: "Something on the internet was wrong!"

~~~  
An X-acto knife and 5 minutes later they're freed and back in the bedroom. Cross legged on the bed Niall studies the two items closely while Zayn waits next to him. He declares "Pretty sure I can handle the larger, at least at first. Seems the smaller is for people who've never been fingered even. I know I'm going to need more than the smaller to take you for sure." Zayn's breath hitches.

Niall looks up with a smirk, "Y'know it's funny; a few months ago we were so terrified to kiss each other, and now you work in porn and we're sitting around buck naked and frankly discussing butt dildoes."

Zayn laughs and his eyes crinkle. 

Niall hands it over and says "Ok, how are we doin' this?"

Zayn cocks his head and muses "You're being rather business-like about this."

Niall shrugs: "I think I just kind of want to get the first one out of the way, maybe."

Zayn frowns a little. "I wanted to make it really special for you; I mean I want you to ENJOY it."

"You already have. I wouldn't think to go buy something special to make it easier. I'm actually relieved and a lot less nervous. Touched almost."

Zayn blushes and looks down. "I think if you're on your hands & knees I can see better what I'm doing, then for the actual, uh, you know, I want to be able to see your face and kiss you and stuff."

It's Niall's turn to blush as he smiles a bit and turns over. "Ok, I'm gonna start with my finger, since you're used to that and it might help you relax some." Niall nods, then hears the *snick* of the lube being flipped open. Zayn places a soft kiss at the base of Niall's spine before he spreads his cheeks slightly and begins to smooth the lube around his rim, sliding just the tip in at first.

"Ok?" He asks.

"Mmmm." Hums Niall.

Zayn smiles fondly as he adds a bit more lube and works his digit slowly in a little further. He wiggles it a bit and looks up to see Niall with his eyes closed and his head resting on his forearm, mouth open a bit in a tiny "o". Zayn bites his lip and eases his finger in all the way, eliciting a tiny "Ah." from Niall. He curls it, knowing just the spot to hit and watches Niall gasp and give a slight twitch. 

He slowly slides his finger out and asks: "You're pretty good with that much I guess, are you ready for the trainer?"

Niall nods.

Zayn reminds him "We can stop any time. I don't think we need a safe word since I'm not into hurting you. Just tell me to stop, ok?"

"I know, Zayn, we've been over this a dozen times."

"Ok ok. It just that it's probably gonna hurt some being your first time."

"Zayn, you think I don't know that?"

"Ok, now it's sort of like a jelly texture, so it's soft but firm at the same -"

"ZAYN!"

"Right, right. Why am I more nervous than you are?"

"Because you're afraid I won't like it and you will have bought the big box of condoms for nothing." 

"A ha!" Zayn cackles.

He applies a generous amount of lube on the trainer and smirks. "Here comes Justin!"

"Oh my god. Could you not?"

Zayn chuckles as he leans over to kiss Niall just behind his ear. He circles it a couple times then lines it up. He slowly slips it up past the first bump. He waits a few seconds for Niall to adjust and when he hears Niall exhale loudly he asks "Still ok?"

"Yeah, it's not that much bigger than your finger really, and we've done more than one before...go ahead and try the next."

He slides over the next bump and waits for a reaction from Niall.

"The bump was bigger but not so much the part past the bump; maybe you could, um, work it in and out a little?"

Zayn raises his eyebrows. Niall is now up on his elbows, eyebrows knitted in concentration. Zayn obliges, slowly easing the bump in and out, watching Niall's eyelids flutter. 

"Shit babe, you're doing so good. Let me know when you're ready for the next one." 

Niall enjoys the sensation a bit as the stinging dies down and whispers: "Yeah, now."

Zayn adds more lube, just in case and slowly introduces the third bump, giving him a bit of time to adjust, then working it slightly in and out. Niall's breathing is becoming a bit more labored at this point.

"Talk to me, babe."

Niall pants: "I-it's good." [Heavy breath] "I...I kinda like it."

Zayn is so relieved. "You're halfway there, love. You're doing great. Jesus I wish you could see how hot you look."

Niall pants: "Mobile's on the nightstand."

Zayn's fully hard now. "You nasty little perv! Gonna save it for when it's all in."

"I want one of YOU all in."

"Fuuuuuck!" Zayn hisses as he gives the dildo a bit of a twist, Niall gasping slightly.

"More."

Zayn bites his lip and slowly presses the toy in over the fourth bump, beginning to work it after a few moments. Niall is clutching the pillow now and beads of sweat are starting to form along his brow. Zayn decides to experimentally tilt the dildo down and sure enough it's the exact right depth in, hitting the sweet spot. Niall shouts "OH!" and scrambles over the sheets in surprise.

"Good, baby?"

"Yes, yes." He gasps.

"I can finish you off like this if you want?"

"No no, want you. How many more bumps?"

"Next one's the last, love."

"I'm ready, I'm ready."

The last bump is somewhat elongated and Zayn (now struggling to breathe himself) watches with awe as Niall's tight hole widens and narrows around it. He pushes up to the hilt. Niall's voice cracks "Zayn."

Zayn can only muster a brief grunt.

"I love you so much."

Niall hears a shutter sound and sees his phone inches from his face.

"This is what my good boy looks like."

"Oh God. Get in me please."

Zayn rolls him over, listening to him moan as the plug shifts.

"You keep moaning like that and I'm gonna jizz before I can even get the rubber on."

Niall reaches down and gently tugs on his balls, groaning "OH GOD!"

Zayn quickly lubes himself and crawls between Niall's legs to slowly remove the toy, pausing it a moment to slide it back in again, so Niall can feel the bumps one after the other.

Niall throws his arm over his mouth while gasping "OH! OH! OH!"

"We're all alone baby, be loud for me."

Niall nods breathlessly. Zayn slides it out again and sets it aside.

"Do you want to...ride me at first so you can go at your own pace?"

Niall thinks a few seconds then nods, glassy-eyed. Zayn eases him onto his lap, and looks him straight in the eye as he raises him up slightly by his thighs, kisses him, and whispers "I love you." Niall hovers on his knees as he waits for Zayn to position himself then ever so slowly starts to ease himself down. 

He winces a bit: "You're bigger..." Zayn, in a panic, begins to lift him off.

"No-no!" Niall pants. "Just let me take it slow, yeah?"

"Of course, love. That's the whole idea."

Zayn watches in awe as Niall determinedly inches down bit by bit, panting, breath hitching, gasping, as he eases down. Murmuring the occasional "So good." or "Yeah; yeah." Zayn responds with "So good, baby. So good for me." and "Wish you could see how wrecked you look. All for me." When he finally bottoms out he hears the shutter snap again and rests his weary head on Zayn's shoulder. Zayn whispers: "Mine." and strokes his damp hair until his breathing steadies. Niall finally nods weakly and whispers "Not sure how much longer I can last, but I'm ready."

Zayn arranges a pillow next to him and gently rolls Niall onto it so it's under his ass. Niall gives him a quizzical look and Zayn says: "Trust me. I'm goddam close as well and this will make it better for both of us." 

"I trust you."

Zayn begins to rock against him gently at first, leaning in to kiss him sweetly, then sloppily, then moving to his neck, to his shoulders, to his nipples. Niall is panting and hissing "Please...please," reminding Zayn of their first night together. Zayn then pulls back and pins Niall's wrists to his sides. Now the angle is different; he begins thrusting. Hard. Right where he knows it counts and Niall is shouting and writhing and delirious and it's all Zayn can do to hold him in place before watching the come spurt onto Niall's stomach as he shrieked "AH! AH! AH!" Zayn rode him through it the best he could before he himself was pulsing into the condom with every last ounce of stamina.

He collapses on top of him and they huff for a few moments until they catch their breath and Zayn rolls over and removes the condom, tying it off and letting it fall wherever. Lying on their backs in a daze Niall murmurs with a smirk: "Did it hurt?"

Zayn of course recognizes the cheesy pick-up line about falling from heaven. Yet humors him by asking "Did what hurt?"

"When I punch you in the face for not making me do that sooner."

Zayn chuckles and rolls over to kiss him. "The whole point is I'd never make you do anything. You know that right?" Niall smiles and nods. "Ok, let me get you cleaned up." 

After seeing his disheveled state in the mirror he reckons a second shower might not be out of order but he's too damn exhausted. He wets a cloth and wipes himself the best he can, rinses it, wrings it, then brings it back to Niall. He's staring at his phone slightly slack-jawed when he looks up and sees Zayn in the doorway.

"This isn't what I thought you took a picture of," turning the phone around.

Zayn tries to compose his thoughts as he starts wiping Niall down.

"...I know you thought me dicking you would be a sexy photo, but right at that moment, the look on your face was the sexiest thing in the world to me." Niall stares at the picture; head is thrown back, eyes half hooded, jaw dropped, a bead of sweat dripping down his temple.

"I look like a zombie!"

"You look beautiful. You look like that because you let me make you look like that, because you trust and love me, and it lets me know I'm doing everything right." He absentmindedly tosses the damp cloth, hoping it falls on a dirty t-shirt and not what is probably cashmere carpet, turns out the lamp, and spoons his boyfriend.

They're quiet for a bit when Niall says: "Thank you for being so patient. And thank you for wanting to make it special, you really did." Zayn is silent for a pause before he says, "I just didn't want it to be for you like my first time was."

Niall is stricken by this, and after a longer pause. "You don't have to tell me, but can I ask what happened?"

After an even longer pause in which Niall wonders if Zayn has fallen asleep he replied: "I was on the set looking over a script - we usually only get these the day of the shoot, which is why the acting is so shitty; we're basically trying to recreate the vague outline and somewhat ad-libbing. Anyway, this production guy walks by me, hands me a butt plug and goes "Put this in, you're about to be PWP in a half hour."

"I...don't know what that means." Feeling very nervous.

"Pounded without Prep."

Niall's chest hurts as he turns over to hold Zayn possibly the tightest he's ever held him. 

~~~

Niall awakens to his new favorite sound: the excited chirping of birds greeting the new day. Having grown up with the luxury of air conditioning in a country that seldom needs it, he was introduced to the concept of "opening a window" on an unusually warm night spent at Zayn's. He smiles and nuzzles into Zayn as the birds gradually chatter and peep him fully awake. Zayn smiles sleepily and rolls him onto his back at which Niall winces and sucks in his breath.

Zayn eases off and says "Right, sorry...I find a warm bath helps? Let me go run you one." and nearly leaps off the bed in his haste to ease Niall's discomfort. Niall snuggles sleepily into a pillow until he feels Zayn lifting him bridal style and setting him into the bath that has apparently been scented with lavender, which is doing nothing to wake him up, and everything to make him feel everything is right with the world.

"Join me?" he murmurs.

"Would love to," all soft eyes, "But I have to finish that English presentation I'm supposed to give in two hours. Scrub-a-dub."

Niall lazes until the water becomes clammy, and he smells coffee brewing and sounds of breakfast being made. He grabs a towel and strolls into the bedroom, surprised to see Zayn finishing his project with his ear buds in. 

He smiles, pulls one out and murmurs: "You didn't have to make me coffee on top of everything."

Zayn smirks, "Good! 'Cos I didn't!"

They instantaneously freeze as they register the distinct smell of coffee brewing and the sounds of people making breakfast. People who are not them.

They dress quickly and make their way downstairs with what they hope are nonchalant looks on their faces. Niall's mum jumps up to start their French toast.

Niall: "So....?"

Bobby: "Typical. There's a champagne reception a few hours before we launch and there's shrimp cocktail because people who don't know any better think that's fancy. Please! [Shovels food into mouth yet continues to talk] You can get shrimp cocktail in Las Vegas for under a US dollar! Your mom and I have some fruit but are waiting to board so we can order a proper dinner, like. Sure enough, half an hour out of port 90% of the people are barfing over the side of the boat. Rotten shrimp. We had to turn around and come back."

Zayn's gaze is fixed on the table so it's up to Niall to say what they're both thinking: "You got in about when?"

Niall's dad looks him straight in the eye and says: "When you were digging through the drawers in your altogether to get to your butt-plugs or whatever. We literally ran past you."

Both Niall and Zayn (to a lesser extent) are mortified. Luckily, Niall's mum arrives with two plates of breakfast. Niall absentmindedly transfers Zayn's sausage to his plate to which Maura blurts: "Niall! I did not raise you to pinch other people's food."

Niall responds: "Mum, Zayn doesn't eat pork."

Bobby snorts. "Oh? There's something Zayn doesn't do?"

Niall: "Excuse me?"

Bobby: "Just saying, if you knew what he did for money-"

Niall: "I DO know; how do YOU know?"

Maura: "Bobby?"

Long pause...

Zayn: "He's my boss."

There's a long moment while Maura processes she doesn't know what her husband does for a living, and Niall realizes his father is willing to torture the person he loves for money.

Niall states: "You need to leave."

Zayn dejectedly starts to get up when Niall steadies him by his forearm.

"No. Dad. YOU need to leave."

Bobby scoffs: "What are you going to do for money?"

Niall: "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

That gets his attention, as well as Zayn and Maura's.

"Oh really?"

"Apparently when your staff signed Zayn, no one bothered to verify his age, or most likely you don't care if you exploit someone the same age as your own son. While the age of consent here is 16, the age of consent to make pornography is 18. We can either sue you and drag your name through the mud and possibly send you to jail for kiddie porn; or, we can arrange a 'Gentleman's Agreement' about this provided you actually know any gentlemen to offer you assistance."

Bobby's jaw stiffens. Maura's face gapes in shock. Zayn looks at Niall in awe.

Bobby tersely states: "You're blackmailing me."

"Call it what you will, you'd do the same, and probably have."

"Talk to me."

"You're going to release Zayn from his contract and set us and the girls up in a semi-detached at least. You're going to let mum continue to live here in the manner she's accustomed to, with an allowance, just without you."

Bobby waits a couple beats and says: "Wait. That's it?"

Niall looks him dead in the eye and says "There's quite the argument that money does not equal power; leverage does, and I think I just proved that. Wait. Greg mentioned he needs a car."

Zayn and Maura are frozen in shock as Bobby gets up from the table, stomps up the stairs, and starts throwing things in suitcases. Niall has returned to eating and says "Great French toast, Mum!"

~~~

Niall brings the dishes and the food into the kitchen and starts putting things away while his mum loads the dishwasher.

"Mum..."

"Yes dear."

"Are you sad about dad?"

"Sad about him being gone? A little. You get used to having someone being around, and now that you and Zayn are planning to move out, I'm worried about being lonely. Sad about him turning out to be a horrible person? Mostly mad. And mad at myself."

"But you're not mad at me right? Because if you are I'm sorry."

"Not so much mad, but embarrassed to have my 17 year-old son show me how naive I was being at 40 years-old."

 

Niall's phone buzzes with a text from Zayn and he grins. "You know what? Can you get this? I have to catch up with Greg."

She smiles and says "Of course dear."

~~~

"NO FUCKING WAY!!!"

"I took him back when it was so obvious it was just a job to him - "

"But our DAD owns the company?!"

"Mom had no idea."

"I'm speechless...so he's gone?!"

*Godfather impression* "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse."

"Oh I gotta hear this!"

~~~

Zayn: "So tell me. What do you know about what I do for work?"

Safaa: "Nothing. I thought you just went to school."

Waliyha: (looking down) "Someone at school sent me a link."

Zayn sighs.

"I'm so, so, sorry that happened to you." (pause) "What do you know about what Mum did for a living?"

Safaa: "She worked at the Tescos?"

Zayn: "That was before we moved sweetie; after she got fired from Tescos."

Waliyha hangs her head: "Nothing. Drank."

"Who was paying the bills while mom did nothing and drank and tried to stay in school?"

Waliyha stares at Safaa expectantly. "You?" she whispers.

He knows this is crossing a line but asks. "Do you know what mum decided to do when drinking was not killing her enough?"

Safaa is over her head at this point and now even Waliyha is confused.

"Do you know what Heroin is?"

Waliyha gasps and Safaa goes "WHAT WHAT?" suddenly afraid.

Zayn explains "Heroin is one of the most addictive drugs with absolutely no medicinal use. It is 100% illegal no matter what and it was very dangerous for her to both be using it and having it in the house. Even cocaine is legal in a hospital setting. They use it in eye surgery. 

“I hate to say this but it's almost a blessing she died as quickly as she did because she was endangering all of us, and that Da is out of the picture and doesn't know where we are; but the bigger blessing is we have Niall now. We're going to have our own place soon, all of us, and neither of us will ever leave you or let anyone hurt you. Promise." To add some levity to the situation he says somberly: "As Justin says: 'we can go nowhere but up...from here.'"

Safaa squeals "MY DEEEEEAR!"

Waliyha groans.

~~~

"So I essentially threatened to have Dad thrown in jail if he didn't let Zayn out of his contract."

"Good."

"And buy us and the girls a house."

"Oh wow. You're that serious about him?"

"Yeah. It's...pretty serious."

"Do I want to know?"

Niall cackles: "You do, but you don't."

"What about Mum?"

"She keeps the house and he gives her enough money for whatever she wants."

"Nice work."

"And...."

"....?"

"You're getting a new car!"

Greg is stunned into silence for a minute, then replies: "Oh, Niall. I can't tell you how much this means right now. Denise and I have received some unexpected news."

"Is something wrong?"

"You're going to be an uncle."

"Does Mum know?!"

"Not yet - don't tell!"

"I'm giving her the phone!"

Niall runs down the stairs, hands his mother his phone, and runs off whooping.

~~~

A few months later Zayn is sliding into bed next to Niall around 3am, trying not to jostle him. Niall nonetheless is awakened and rolls over to hold him.

He murmurs "How was the bakery?"

"Same. It's not so bad being in the back instead of in front with the customers. And luckily my job is done before they start rolling in around 4. Truck drivers and the lot. Coppers always. Never hurts to have them around though."

"Are you planning to go to San Francisco?"

Zayn blinks. "What?!"

"You've got some flours in your hair." Niall smirks, brushing it off.

"You are the absolute worst. How was the record shop?"

While Zayn had found the late night bakery job through their classmate Harry, Niall had found an evening spot at a used vinyl shop nearby, thus insuring they could finish school and still be around for the girls. It was a bit grueling, but what was most important to Zayn was that the girls weren't being baby-sat by the TV next to someone who was essentially comatose and only technically taking care of them. Zayn would come home from school and take a nap before Niall had to head out for his shift. Then he'd make dinner and help with homework before he had to leave. They had about an hour while they were alone, but essentially, both were capable of dialing emergency and performing CPR (classes) and using a fire extinguisher, and were well secured behind multiple locks and an alarm system and had both of them on speed dial.

"The usual. Someone pulled a Beatles album out of a bin and blurted 'Sherry! Did you know Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?'" Zayn snickers. "Someone came up and said 'I don't know the name of this song but it goes hmm hum humm da da da lalala and I don't know who sings it but I know the cover is blue."

Zayn furrows his brows and says "Weezer? The Sweater Song."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Was that not it?"

"Well yes, but it took us an hour and a half to figure out and drove the entire staff crazy to sell a four pound CD."

Niall humphs over and blurts "Go to sleep. It's school in 4 hours."

Zayn can't resist asking "Hey Niall, did you know Dave Grohl was in a band before Foo Fighters?"

Niall elbows him in the rib cage.

~~~~

Niall and Zayn have decided unanimously to not attend their graduation ceremony, much to Maura's disappointment.

"Mum, Greg's baby is due within a few days of that. Do you really want to risk missing it?"

"Yeah you don't want to miss meeting your first grandchild hot off the presses because you were busy listening to someone droning off people's names for 3 hours? Obviously my parents won't be there and my sisters would be bored to tears. We graduate whether we go or not. It's just a waste of time and money."

Maura looks dejected.

Niall glances at Zayn, who nods.

"Listen. There's something else we're expecting around that time and we don't want to miss that either. We'll let you in on it later. Between this and the baby, graduation is actually going to seem like a drop in the bucket."

~~~~

Niall and his mother are sitting in chairs outside Greg and Denise's room in the neo-natal unit. Zayn isn't allowed in, as he's not "family". Niall is at once fuming and overexcited and mentally exhausted because he knows Zayn is in the hall refreshing his phone over and over on the Royal Mail website. 

The instant Niall feels his phone vibrate Greg sticks his head out the door and says "He's almost here!"

Zayn's text says: "They're delivered! I'm going to get them! Back soon."

He texts back: "Hurry! The baby is almost...done? LOL."

~~~~

When Zayn arrives about a half hour later he rips open the box in the hallway and stares in awe. He texts Niall who comes running out moments later.

"Can you believe it?"

"Never."

Zayn grabs one each for Niall's mum and Greg and hands them to him.

Niall runs back into the room - everyone shouts "MASK!" Niall runs out of the room to grab a mask then runs back in. Both Denise and the baby are dozing. He hands a copy to his brother and his mum and waits.

Greg jokes "Don't think he can read yet."

"It's not for him. Well, yet."

Maura was already teary, but when she read the title:

"Everyone’s Family is Different"

Then:

Written by: Niall Horan

Illustrated by: Zayn Malik

She clutched the book to her chest and the waterworks opened fully, causing Greg to actually read the front, jaw dropping.

"This is the happiest day of my life next to the days you boys were born."

Greg is paging through the largish children's book still in shock.

"Niall, this is brilliant!"

"I guess you could say we had a delivery of our own; it was actually Zayn's idea."

~~~~

Several months ago, after their job schedules were established, Zayn told Niall: "I have an idea, but you're the one who's better with words..." and they immediately spent their weekends hard at work on the project; and when completed, self-published through Amazon.

They were stunned at the end of the day to see they had two pre-orders. After a day? Nine more. By the time Zayn was cutting the box open he knew they'd need to have at least a second printing.

The premise is explaining how your family can be "unconventional" yet still a legitimate family...through animals. A lion and a tiger can have a child who is a "liger"; two penguins might mate for life and yet never have children; a monkey might only have a mother because his father is dead or just gone; perhaps a cat has a litter of kittens and also adopts a baby rabbit, who doesn’t look like the rest of the family, etc. After much deliberation as to how to represent same-sex parents, they went with two male lions, deciding that even at a young age most children have grasped the concept that only the males have manes. And if not, it would be easiest for a parent to explain. One night after a few pints they tossed around the idea of putting in a page about how in seahorse families, it’s the DAD that has the babies, but in the end decided that would be a bit too baffling for the age market they were aiming for. Their goal was to make kids feel secure in what may be a unique situation for them, not to have them solemnly pat their father’s beer belly and ask “Are you having a baby?”

~~~

Within 6 months the book is caught up in a buzz; The Human Rights Campaign, Parents Without Partners, Childless by Choice, as well as dozens of other groups have lauded the book as well as media outlets - from Entertainment Weekly to the New York Times have created a discussion. Niall actually broke down in tears after reading a handwritten letter of praise from Lesléa Newman, the woman who wrote "Heather Has Two Mommies" in 1989, considered groundbreaking at the time. There was backlash of course, from the usual sides; the Westborough Baptist Church actually had enough time and money to waste flying a pitiful handful of people to London to picket outside of their residence. Thankfully it was only a few days before word of another much more "offensive threat" to Christianity sprung up and they flocked to that.

Zayn eventually receives enough commissions for artwork he's able to quit the bakery job and work from home with the girls, and occasionally babysit Theo should the need arise. Niall continues to work at the record store because he likes having things to complain about. 

"Get this, we're playing The Who and some bird goes 'Who is this?' I go: 'The Who.' she goes: 'Who?' I say: 'Yes.' She says: 'It's Yes?' I reply, "No, the Who.' SHE replies: 'No I don't know who, that's why I'm asking!'" 

Zayn smirks: "But were they on first?" 

Niall: "I am going to smother you in your sleep," choosing instead to smother him with kisses as Zayn reaches up and turns out the light.

**Author's Note:**

> Very famous hippie song from the 60s titled "If You're Going to San Francisco..." (Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdvCqUguIh8
> 
> There is both a band called the Who and a band called Yes and a stand up gag about baseball from the 1950s called "Who's on First?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg


End file.
